House at Dhanmondi 32 demolished, Sudha Sadan plundered

The demolition of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's historic residence at Dhanmondi Road No. 32 has been put on hold after over half of it was razed to the ground and people went in to grab books, furniture, iron, broken grills, wood and anything else they could find.

In response to an online speech by unseated Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina from exile in India, a demolition campaign, dubbed the "Bulldozer March" was launched. Thousands gathered to vandalize the home of Bangladesh's first president on Wednesday night, six months after the former premier was ousted in the wake of a mass uprising.

The program began using a crane and two excavators at night and the demolition continued on Thursday in the presence of many people, but one excavator remained until 10am before it was removed as well, citing a mechanical error.

Meanwhile, lower-income people were seen cutting rods from the two partially demolished buildings and the extended section of the memorial museum using hammers, shovels and metal cutters. They then carried them away on rickshaws and vans. Hajaribagh's Sirajul Islam was loading a van with different materials from the scene.

"I will sell them off to a scrap yard, of course. Everyone is whisking stuff away, so I'm taking whatever I could find," Sirajul Islam said.

While cutting off a rod, Sujan said: "They're tearing it down. Let us take something away. Whatever we get will be used."

Hundreds of people could be seen entering and exiting the extended museum section, while inquisitive crowds were taking photos and shouting slogans at the half-leveled building in the front.

The crowd was initially divided into different groups but after 12:30pm, they united when one person grabbed a microphone and began shouting slogans, like "This is not Delhi, this is Dhaka", "Not 32, it's 36", and "Grab Leaguers one by one, grab them and slaughter them".

Jihadul Islam, one of the anti Awami League demonstrators, said: "Where are their boasts of power now? Previously, people could not walk in front of this house even in the daytime."

"Today, people are tearing the house down and taking it apart brick by brick. I hope the future generation will take lessons from the fate of such tyrants."
On 5 August 2024 the day former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina government was ousted, the same residence - closely tied to Bangabandhu's history - was set on fire. Sheikh Hasina fled away to India on the same day.

On Wednesday evening, after extensive vandalism, protesters set fire to anything flammable inside the premises, while coconut palm leaves were burnt.
Amid the ongoing situation at Dhanmondi 32, a fire was started at Hasina's residence Sudha Sadan on Dhanmondi Road No. 5.

A security guard from the Dhanmondi Society said a group of youths arrived between 10:30pm and 11pm and set Sudha Sadan ablaze. Several parts of the building were still in flames from the night before.

People then whisked away rods, sofas, chairs, tables, half-burnt furniture, air conditioners, refrigerators and other things from the house.

Saleha Akter, who was loading a rickshaw with materials she took to sell for scrap, said: "Everything is burnt and many people came and took away whatever they could. I'm also taking away small things I found. I hope to get some money by selling them."

The house was named after Sheikh Hasina's husband, MA Wazed Miah, who was nicknamed Sudha Miah.

According to a local who lived in the apartment opposite Sudha Sadan, Hasina stayed in the house during the reign of the caretaker government and took part in the 2008 election from there.

The house also served as an Awami League office for some time, but was later locked up. Hasina would travel there and stay on different significant days and the house was overseen by a huge number of security personnel during the Awami League regime.

Sudha Sadan came under attack on 5 August 2024. Later on law and order forces arrived and locked up the house.

>Agency